Posts by Jonah

A while back I had an interview with Michele’s old boss Ray at the headhunting firm she used to work at. They didn’t have any positions open at that time, but Ray and his assistant were very nice and gave me some pointers and told me they would give out my resume to their people… I would be a “free” placement (since who would pay someone to find me). It was good practice interviewing, and Ray said I had a very interesting resume (but he said it with a positive tone of voice). He also told me to tell Michele she should come back when she got better (she was their top recruiter).

Well, who should call me on Thursday but Ray, saying their current top guy needs an assistant, and wasn’t I asking for $30k a year? Of course, it would probably be more than that with commission topping it off…

I told Berck. He said something like, “Well… rats.”

I told Michele the next day, and she told Duncan. They came and talked to me at the laptop where I was futzing with the webpage (which I still haven’t been able to put up yet because the Internet connection was down… too much wind). “Obviously, we want what’s best for you,” said Duncan, sounding very much like my dad. “Our preference is that you stay and work for us, of course.”

“I think you should go interview,” said Michele. “That way if it’s a fit, you’ll know, and if it’s not for you, you’ll know for sure. Although, if I teach you how to do what I do, the potential for making more money is greater with me than it would be with Ray’s group.”

“Well,” I said, “I don’t really like the idea of a job where I’d be on the phone all day.” That’s what Michele does. And she loves it. And she’s great at it. She can have an engineer she’s never met chatting about his family, his last vacation, or his current research project in 20 seconds flat. I’ve timed it. And every time she ends one of these conversations, she pushes back her chair, sighs, and says, “I LOVE my job!”

“If you worked with Ray, you’d be on the phone ALL DAY,” Michele said.

So I haven’t called Ray back.

Actual Fact: In 1903 the Vatican declared the saxophone gave reasonable concern for disgust and scandal.

Yesterday morning we woke up early (7 o’clock or so, which constitutes “sleeping in” for Berck, who usually rises between 4:30 and 5). “What do you want to do today?” asked Berck, who had gotten out of working because of unfavorable winds. I suggested we could go on a hike. The sky was mostly overcast, and Berck suggested the weather might be against us.

A little later we looked out the window again. The air was full of thick, white flakes! It snowed and snowed for a few hours, sticking to everything except the roads. “If this keeps up,” exclaimed Berck, “I can test out my new snow tires!” We had just picked them up from the shop the evening before.

But the snow stopped. And even though everything was covered with snow, when the sun came out, it all melted almost immediately. The afternoon ended up being sunny and warmish.

Actual Fact: The word “decimation” comes from the Latin word meaning “removal of a tenth,” describing a Roman army practice to punish mutinous or cowardly troops. The doomed were put in groups of ten, and then each group drew lots. The one loser out of the ten was slain by the other nine.

Linda Wertheimer: Now the Gallop Poll shows that, even though conservative groups led the charge against the Miers nomination, more liberals were actually happy about her withdrawal than conservatives were. 57% of liberals said they were glad about it. Only 34% of conservatives were. How could that be?

Nina Totenberg: I think a lot of evangelicals don’t and didn’t agree with their leadership. I was listening to the Rush Limbaugh Show a couple of days ago … yes, I do that…

Linda Wertheimer: Okaaaay…

St. Dymphna – the mentally ill (Her father went mad with grief when her mother died, and his advisors told him to marry his daughter. When she refused, he sliced off her head with his sword.)

St. Joseph of Cupertino – pilots (His levitational ability caused enmity with his fellow monks.)

St. Agatha – bellmakers (No one knows why.)

St. Ambrose – beekeepers

St. Januarius – bloodbanks (A vial of abrout 30 ml the martyred saint’s clotted blood is kept in a locked vault in the Cathedral of Naples. When the vial is handled during a ceremony honoring the saint, the blood liquifies and appears to boil and froth. The Catholic Church has never officially declared this a miracle, leaving scientists to explain the phenomenon.)

St. Fiacre – cab drivers (French cabs are called fiacres because the first establishment to let coaches on hire was near the hotel Saint-Fiacre in Paris)

St. Venantius – falling

St. Bona – flight attendants

St. Martin de Porres – hairdressers (He was the barber in his friary.)

St. Rita of Cascia – lost causes (Though she wanted to become a nun, her parents insisted that she married at age 12. After her husband and both sons died, she tried unsuccessfully to enter the Augustinians. They required all sisters to be virgins. Finally, the order gave her entry.)

St. Sebastian – archers

St. Teresa of Jesus Jornet Ibars – senior citizens (She was canonized in 1974. I don’t know what seniors did before that.)

St. Cassian of Imola – shorthand writers (A teacher arrested for being a Christian, his students were invited to hack him to death. His martyrdom was lengthy, since his students could not wield mortal blows.)

St. Bernard of Montjoux – skiers

St. Stephen – stone masons (Stephen, the first Christian martyr, was stoned to death)

St. Apollonia – toothaches (She had her teeth knocked out by a persecutor.)

St. Dismas – undertakers (Crucified with Jesus, he was the thief who believed.)

St. Philip of Agirone – US Special Forces